That certainly seems to be the case with former gun-control advocate Michael DeBose, an Ohio state legislator. DeBose’s epiphany was not a result of being mugged by reality, but by being mugged by a couple of gun-toting thugs in his own neighborhood.

DeBose told Gun Week, the periodical of The Second Amendment Foundation, that he was taking a walk around his quiet residential neighborhood on the evening of May 1 when he was accosted by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun. The unarmed DeBose took the only option available to him — he ran to a neighbor’s home and pounded on the door. The hoodlums, apparently worried DeBose’s yelling would attract witnesses, jumped in their car and drove away.

Long an advocate of stricter gun-control laws, DeBose, along with his wife and several neighbors, have since enrolled in classes to obtain concealed-carry permits.

“If I’d had a weapon I could have defended myself,” said the ordained Baptist minister.